Early in 1864 approximately 1,500 Union soldiers under Colonel William A. Phillips set out on an expedition to cut a swath through Confederate Indian Territory from the Arkansas River to the Red River. The Purpose was to bring the area under Union control and to offer the amnesty terms provided in Pres. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of the previous December. Col. Phillips wanted not only to sever Confederate treaties with the tribes, but also to gain recruits from the Indians.
On February 9 the Union troops reached the Boggy Depot area, where Colonel Phillips camped to wait for a large part of the 14th Kansas Cavalry under Colonel Thomas Moonlight to arrive from Fort Smith. While waiting, Phillips sent an advance of about 350 men under Maj. Charles Willets to a known Boggy Depot outpost on Middle Boggy River (now known as Muddy Boggy). This force consisted of three troops of the 14th Kansas Cavalry and one section (two guns) of howitzers commanded by Captain Soloman Kaufman. Union Maj. Charles Willette and his troops surprised a Confederate force at Middle Boggy Depot on the 13th. The Confederate forces at Middle Boggy may have numbered as many as 90 men and no artillery. They were composed of Capt. Nail's Company "A" of the 1st Choctaw and Chickasaw Cavalry, a detachment of the 20th Texas Cavalry, and a part of Lieutenant Colonel John Jumper's Seminole Battalion of Mounted Rifles.
The Confederate forces were completely surprised when Willets first shelled and then attacked them. Although poorly armed, The Confederates fought desperately for approximately 30 minutes before scattering into the surrounding woods, dashing for the safety of Col. Jumper and the remainder of his Seminole Battalion who were camped at Boggy Depot. Colonel Jumper and his troops had heard the howitzers firing and had begun to ride toward the encampment when they met Capt. Nail and the survivors of the battle.
The Union forces killed 47 Confederates during this short fight. Fear of the arrival of fresh Confederate forces influenced the Federals to retire to Fort Gibson. The Confederates fought desperately for approximately 30 minutes before scattering into the surrounding woods, dashing for the safety of Col. Jumper and the remainder of his Seminole Battalion who were camped at Boggy Depot. Colonel Jumper and his troops had heard the howitzers firing and had begun to ride toward the encampment when they met Nail and the survivors of the battle. During Col. John F. Phillips's Indian Territory expedition, he and his men fought with and dispersed numerous Confederate forces. Middle Boggy Depot was, perhaps, the largest encounter during the expedition.